The Israeli people shouldn't expect any help from Donald Trump. His goes back on his promises and his guarantees are worthless. His inept dealing in the Alaska meeting is evidence. It's lucky we still have the state and that it wasn't given away. What we have are three old evil men who are trying desperately to hang onto power by any means that they can. All of them are far more self-directed than they are advocates for their people or countries.
Trumps bragging about stopping 6 wars is a complete fiction which he seems to believe and he keeps begging for a peace prize. He has totally lost his mind. A few days ago he kept blaming Nikki Haley for having complete power to stop January 6 when he was talking about Nancy Pelosi. What a loser.
It would be swell if someone in his family would perform a mental/medical intervention on Trump. It's out of the question that his toady cabinet won't 25th Amendment him, even though it's totally justified. There is little worse than a man who is demented and who also has the power that he does. He is unfit to serve.
His cabinet may use the 25th to replace him with JD Vance who has been groomed most of his adult life by Peter Thiel. Vance also leans into the teachings of Curtis Yarvin who is a total nut job. I don’t know if we would be any better off. It’s like jumping from the fire into the volcano.
It would be like that, no question. Trump is vindictive and would seek revenge for being dethroned. I don't think that his cabinet has the moral integrity or the guts to do it. This alone might save us from Vance. In his own right, he's a nasty piece of work.
Of course Trump was never going to do that. The idea that anyone seriously entertained the notion is astounding to me. Netanyahu treats Trump the same way Putin does, like the doddering old narcissistic fool that he is. They pay him a few throw away compliments to feed his ego, say a couple of things that sound like they are agreeing with him when they really mean anything but, and they go on to continue to do whatever it is they want to. Trump is so intent on his fever dream of winning a Nobel the he convinces himself that he has achieved something when EVERYONE ELSE knows nothing has changed.
Thank you Mr. Goldenberg for this article. I appreciated its frankness which extended to revelations about Israel's government that shocked me. That's on me - I should have been better informed.
Gaza resettlement, which I had thought was a Trump crazy idea seems not to have been Trump's idea but an Israeli government idea picked up by Trump. And now an idea that has moved from extreme fringe closer to government policy. Starving Gaza - or cutting off aid - again an Israeli idea green lit by Trump. Settlor violence in the West Bank - Israeli government policy with no comment from US.
Not super happy with the image of Israeli protestors in red MAGA hats. And certainly it's hard to square a "liberal" Israel with one that "overwhelmingly" supports Trump.
My view is that Democrats have largely acquiesced in supporting Israel because their Congressional leaders seemed deaf to any criticism of Israel. But as Jen Rubin noted in a column, the actions of the Israeli government may finally have driven a wedge in that support.
I don't think any other world leader (using the term very generously in this instance) can dissuade Bibi from his heinous and shameful path. He will have to be defeated, either militarily or electorally within Israel.
"Give up the dream. Donald Trump will never save Israel from Benjamin Netanyahu."
The Oval Office resident will do--or not do--whatever he thinks will keep alive the possibility that he'll be given the OK to develop Gaza. And Netanyahu, needing the US in his corner, will dangle that possibility in front of his US counterpart for as long as he can. There is no more noble motive than self-interest for either of these narcissists.
Anything that Trump does has to benefit him in some way, and there is little of it on the horizon in this case. Especially after getting conned into bombing Iran at the behest of Netanyahu, and his lack of any success in Ukraine, the Nobel Peace Prize even looks out of reach.
Even the most casual observation of Autocratic Fascist regimes will show that they have absolutely no interest in the service of justice or the "right", unless, of course, they see some way of benefiting from it.
Now that we have installed such a regime, we should forget about "democracy" and "right". That is how it used to be. Those days are gone.
Until we can come up with a way of getting these elected Fascists out of office and in jail, where they belong, America will live under Autocratic Fascist rule.
The one and maybe only action that can end the 'war' (actually, genocide) in Gaza, as well as the escalating 'war' (actually, illegal military occupation and apartheid control of an unarmed civilian population) in the West Bank, is intervention by an armed UN peacekeeping force.
It is pure folly to even consider that the war criminal government of Netanyahu, or his BIPARTISAN accomplices in the US government, should even be involved in this process at all. The only role for the US should be to stop arming Israel immediately, withdraw the mercenaries at 'aid' sites, and allow the UN and international courts to do their work.
Former senior UN human rights chief Craig Mokhiber and the organization People Against Genocide Everywhere have laid out a 3-phase plan that describes how this could work:
Because the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has determined that Israel does not hold sovereignty in Gaza or any other part of the occupied territories. It has no right to be there and has no authority or decision-making power over what happens there. That is now clearly established as a matter of international law.
The plan utilizes the Uniting for Peace Resolution, which was first adopted in 1950 as a way for the UN General assembly to circumvent The Security Council, where the veto of one member (in this case, of course, the US) can stymie UN action. This resolution was successfully implemented in the Suez Crisis of 1956.
The first critical step is for one UN member state – in any region – to formally request an Emergency Special Session (ESS) of the UN General Assembly. This request activates a 24-hour countdown for the General Assembly to convene and address the crisis.
Once the ESS is underway, the focus must shift to ensuring swift adoption of a comprehensive General Assembly Uniting for Peace Resolution. This resolution must authorize the deployment of a UN mandated multinational armed protective force to Gaza, to safeguard Palestinian civilians, support the UN’s unrestricted entry and distribution of humanitarian aid, preserve evidence of potential war crimes and violations of human rights, and facilitate reconstruction of Gaza.
This stage should also include accountability for Israel, including a full embargo of al arms shipments to Israel, and stripping Israel of its UN credentials.
The final phase is the commitment of the member states to enforcing the resolution: After the resolution passes, which requires a two-thirds majority, the real test begins: every nation that votes ‘yes’ must publicly state what resources they will contribute—troops, planes, ships, humanitarian aid.
Ilan Goldenberg resorts to his usual euphemisms when discussing Israel's genocide in Gaza and its massive escalation in the West Bank, as well as its ongoing belligerence across the region.
'Under Biden, the U.S. sanctioned violent settlers pressed Israel to hold them accountable'
Biden sanctioned four, as in 1,2,3,4 individuals.....which amounted to exactly nothing and not a moment's pause in Israel's ongoing attacks in the West Bank.
.'...And while I often found myself frustrated inside the Biden Administration—wishing we had done more'
Done more what? Send more than $20 billion in lethal aid, for 15 months, right up until only weeks before he left office? Vetoed more UN resolution against Israel? Done more than call the ICC war crimes charges against Netanyahu and Gallant 'outrageous'?
'Israel launched a preventive war on Iran,' - is that what you call an unprovoked attack that killed hundreds of civilians...which was only the most recent time Israel attacked Iran and assassinated Iranian officials and scientists? What does Goldenberg call Israel's continued attacks on Syria, Yemen, Lebanon...are those also 'preventative'?
Goldenberg links to an article about 'Biden's approach' which states 'Since the March 2025 breakdown of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas...' ... another lie, since there was no 'breakdown'...Israel openly and unilaterally ended the ceasefire...not to mention Israel continued to killed Palestinians throughout the 'ceasefire'.
'...a humanitarian tragedy for Palestinians'
Is that what you call a genocide? What is happening is far worse than just some very sad thing... Israel has assassinated hundreds of journalists, hundreds of aid workers, hundreds of health workers... Israel has created more child amputees than anywhere in the world in Gaza and killed at least 18,000 children there...Israel has entirely destroyed society in Gaza.....all while Biden was President, which has continued under Trump.
Even Goldenberg's own J Street has finally admitted Israel is committing genocide. It's president, Jeremy Ben Ami, recently said 'I have, however, been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.'
This adds J Street to a long list of human rights orgs, world leaders and genocide scholars who have said the same thing, including groups and scholars in Israel...
It never ceases to amaze me how gullible, naive, and starry-eyed some otherwise intelligent and engaged people admit to being. Ilan Goldenberg has superb credentials, top-notch experience, and a good track record both inside and outside the previous administration.
Yet, like a teenage schoolgirl dreaming that the team quarterback will not only ask her out but prove not to be the insensitive boor that EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE WORLD has shown that he is, Mr. Goldenberg imagined that Trump would be able to outwit, or outmaneuver, or bully, or convince Bibi Netanyahu to change his tactics and bring the war to an end.
I know many intelligent people -- in my UU congregation, through my Ivy League alumni contacts, and just by preferring to spend my time with rational folks -- and not one of them has ever been fooled by Trump or his minions or his lies and enablers. The man is, first, probably the most uneducated, ignorant occupant of the Oval Office since Andrew Jackson. He is, second, showing signs of advancing senility that were obvious years ago. Third, he is terrified of strong men like Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin, because he has pretended to be one for 60 years after being brought up by a KKK-member bully of a father. But he himself is weak, scared, and fundamentally stupid.
So how could Mr. Goldenberg possible imagine, for even a minute, the scenario he outlines? My mind boggles.
I never cease to be astonished that anyone expects any good to come from the short-fingered vulgarian. He wants to "win" the Nobel Peace Prize the same way he acquired a Purple Heart - someone should just give it to him, because he is Himself. He will now do anything Bibi wants, because Bibi said he deserved that Prize, and probably tells him, on a regular basis, how smart and pretty he is.
Add all that to the fact that in his rat's nest of a brain, he really thinks Bibi will give him Gaza to build hotels and casinos, and make even more money. For that to happen, there must be genocide. Something that wouldn't bother the "consciences" of either the vulgarian, or Bibi.
Another euphemistic article about the never ending Palestine tragedy. It would appear that the problem was just Trump, not the generic support for the nazi like government of Netanyahu, the wanted war criminal, by most of American politicians, Democrats as much as the Republicans. This genocide has been directly enabled by the Biden administration that gave full political, military, economical and moral support to Israel for the total destruction of Gaza, with now openly admitted ethnic cleansing. Notice that the author manages not to use the word genocide - it must be hard as hell - in spite of now basically all top institutions and most scholars officially depicting the crime against humanity in Gaza as genocide. Listen to a top scholar argue why it is genocide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_R2zk3BSnA.
Gaza - and now slowly West Bank being sucked into iy - is a central humanitarian and political issue of our time, one that touches into the hear of our humanity, a desperate reminder that Never again should be Never again. We should all act to save Palestine, and act now - tomorrow may be too late. Just watch this top news channel, it will suffice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lPW0vyg_4U
I am glad someone else here calls out the weakness of this piece.
I just can't believe the narrative we see so often in The Contrarian, that Biden was trying so hard, and now Trump ruined it.
It certainly is worse now than ever..and this is a straight line trajectory from where Biden left off. None of this would be happening if Biden had the tiniest bit of courage and stopped supporting this carnage.
And as bad as it is now, the murder rate per month was significantly higher under Biden... in his 15 months of supporting Israel's war crimes, 46,000 Palestinian were killed in Gaza...since then, another 16,000 have been killed in the past 7 months...that is a rate of roughly 3000 killed / month under Biden, and 2300 killed / month under Trump (of course, all these figures are nearly certainly vast underestimates of the actual death toll).
Now that Trump is in power, all these middling 'moderates' who backed Israel with only tepid criticism while it leveled Gaza and killed 100+ people a day for 15 months are now against this 'humanitarian tragedy' they all helped create. It is truly sickening.
I'm sorry but hoping that drump will do one good thing in his life is just another performance of that famous Samuel Beckett play.... "Waiting for Godot".
Godot, the people waiting for him believe Godot will provide them with salvation.
Why anyone would think Trump would side with Gaza over Netanyahu is beyond me. Was no one paying attention to his first term? Netanyahu and Trump are two peas in a pod.
He used Gaza as a wedge to fracture the opposition. He doesn't give two fucks about Gaza or Palestinians. When he said he could end the war, what he really meant was, with Trump in office Israel would steamroll Gaza immediately.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
I don’t think that Ilan’s criticism of Israel was nearly harsh enough. In fact, and I realize that this is an extremely controversial position, I think that from a moral standpoint Israel has lost its right to exist as it is currently structured.
Because once a nation has engaged in a genocide, like the one Israel is currently committing against the Palestinians, it has crossed the point of no return with respect to its moral legitimacy.
Hence, the only acceptable solution at this point regarding Israel-Palestine is one unitary state where everyone has equal rights, there is total separation of church and state, and NATO provides the security. It should be adapted immediately. No excuses.
Israel seems to be in the same boat as America today — suddenly alerted to the danger they’re in and paddling furiously against the rushing currents of despots more interested in their own survival & pocketbooks than the people they ostensibly serve.
Biden’s Israeli loyalty was rooted in their past history & he found it difficult/ impossible to pivot when faced with new realities.
Trump’s rationale for backing Netanyahoo is *totally *self-serving.
The Israeli people shouldn't expect any help from Donald Trump. His goes back on his promises and his guarantees are worthless. His inept dealing in the Alaska meeting is evidence. It's lucky we still have the state and that it wasn't given away. What we have are three old evil men who are trying desperately to hang onto power by any means that they can. All of them are far more self-directed than they are advocates for their people or countries.
Trumps bragging about stopping 6 wars is a complete fiction which he seems to believe and he keeps begging for a peace prize. He has totally lost his mind. A few days ago he kept blaming Nikki Haley for having complete power to stop January 6 when he was talking about Nancy Pelosi. What a loser.
It would be swell if someone in his family would perform a mental/medical intervention on Trump. It's out of the question that his toady cabinet won't 25th Amendment him, even though it's totally justified. There is little worse than a man who is demented and who also has the power that he does. He is unfit to serve.
His cabinet may use the 25th to replace him with JD Vance who has been groomed most of his adult life by Peter Thiel. Vance also leans into the teachings of Curtis Yarvin who is a total nut job. I don’t know if we would be any better off. It’s like jumping from the fire into the volcano.
It would be like that, no question. Trump is vindictive and would seek revenge for being dethroned. I don't think that his cabinet has the moral integrity or the guts to do it. This alone might save us from Vance. In his own right, he's a nasty piece of work.
Of course Trump was never going to do that. The idea that anyone seriously entertained the notion is astounding to me. Netanyahu treats Trump the same way Putin does, like the doddering old narcissistic fool that he is. They pay him a few throw away compliments to feed his ego, say a couple of things that sound like they are agreeing with him when they really mean anything but, and they go on to continue to do whatever it is they want to. Trump is so intent on his fever dream of winning a Nobel the he convinces himself that he has achieved something when EVERYONE ELSE knows nothing has changed.
Thank you Mr. Goldenberg for this article. I appreciated its frankness which extended to revelations about Israel's government that shocked me. That's on me - I should have been better informed.
Gaza resettlement, which I had thought was a Trump crazy idea seems not to have been Trump's idea but an Israeli government idea picked up by Trump. And now an idea that has moved from extreme fringe closer to government policy. Starving Gaza - or cutting off aid - again an Israeli idea green lit by Trump. Settlor violence in the West Bank - Israeli government policy with no comment from US.
Not super happy with the image of Israeli protestors in red MAGA hats. And certainly it's hard to square a "liberal" Israel with one that "overwhelmingly" supports Trump.
My view is that Democrats have largely acquiesced in supporting Israel because their Congressional leaders seemed deaf to any criticism of Israel. But as Jen Rubin noted in a column, the actions of the Israeli government may finally have driven a wedge in that support.
I don't think any other world leader (using the term very generously in this instance) can dissuade Bibi from his heinous and shameful path. He will have to be defeated, either militarily or electorally within Israel.
"Give up the dream. Donald Trump will never save Israel from Benjamin Netanyahu."
The Oval Office resident will do--or not do--whatever he thinks will keep alive the possibility that he'll be given the OK to develop Gaza. And Netanyahu, needing the US in his corner, will dangle that possibility in front of his US counterpart for as long as he can. There is no more noble motive than self-interest for either of these narcissists.
No he will not. The situation in Gaza keeps getting worse by the day.
Anything that Trump does has to benefit him in some way, and there is little of it on the horizon in this case. Especially after getting conned into bombing Iran at the behest of Netanyahu, and his lack of any success in Ukraine, the Nobel Peace Prize even looks out of reach.
Even the most casual observation of Autocratic Fascist regimes will show that they have absolutely no interest in the service of justice or the "right", unless, of course, they see some way of benefiting from it.
Now that we have installed such a regime, we should forget about "democracy" and "right". That is how it used to be. Those days are gone.
Until we can come up with a way of getting these elected Fascists out of office and in jail, where they belong, America will live under Autocratic Fascist rule.
The one and maybe only action that can end the 'war' (actually, genocide) in Gaza, as well as the escalating 'war' (actually, illegal military occupation and apartheid control of an unarmed civilian population) in the West Bank, is intervention by an armed UN peacekeeping force.
It is pure folly to even consider that the war criminal government of Netanyahu, or his BIPARTISAN accomplices in the US government, should even be involved in this process at all. The only role for the US should be to stop arming Israel immediately, withdraw the mercenaries at 'aid' sites, and allow the UN and international courts to do their work.
Former senior UN human rights chief Craig Mokhiber and the organization People Against Genocide Everywhere have laid out a 3-phase plan that describes how this could work:
Because the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has determined that Israel does not hold sovereignty in Gaza or any other part of the occupied territories. It has no right to be there and has no authority or decision-making power over what happens there. That is now clearly established as a matter of international law.
The plan utilizes the Uniting for Peace Resolution, which was first adopted in 1950 as a way for the UN General assembly to circumvent The Security Council, where the veto of one member (in this case, of course, the US) can stymie UN action. This resolution was successfully implemented in the Suez Crisis of 1956.
The first critical step is for one UN member state – in any region – to formally request an Emergency Special Session (ESS) of the UN General Assembly. This request activates a 24-hour countdown for the General Assembly to convene and address the crisis.
Once the ESS is underway, the focus must shift to ensuring swift adoption of a comprehensive General Assembly Uniting for Peace Resolution. This resolution must authorize the deployment of a UN mandated multinational armed protective force to Gaza, to safeguard Palestinian civilians, support the UN’s unrestricted entry and distribution of humanitarian aid, preserve evidence of potential war crimes and violations of human rights, and facilitate reconstruction of Gaza.
This stage should also include accountability for Israel, including a full embargo of al arms shipments to Israel, and stripping Israel of its UN credentials.
The final phase is the commitment of the member states to enforcing the resolution: After the resolution passes, which requires a two-thirds majority, the real test begins: every nation that votes ‘yes’ must publicly state what resources they will contribute—troops, planes, ships, humanitarian aid.
Ilan Goldenberg resorts to his usual euphemisms when discussing Israel's genocide in Gaza and its massive escalation in the West Bank, as well as its ongoing belligerence across the region.
'Under Biden, the U.S. sanctioned violent settlers pressed Israel to hold them accountable'
Biden sanctioned four, as in 1,2,3,4 individuals.....which amounted to exactly nothing and not a moment's pause in Israel's ongoing attacks in the West Bank.
.'...And while I often found myself frustrated inside the Biden Administration—wishing we had done more'
Done more what? Send more than $20 billion in lethal aid, for 15 months, right up until only weeks before he left office? Vetoed more UN resolution against Israel? Done more than call the ICC war crimes charges against Netanyahu and Gallant 'outrageous'?
'Israel launched a preventive war on Iran,' - is that what you call an unprovoked attack that killed hundreds of civilians...which was only the most recent time Israel attacked Iran and assassinated Iranian officials and scientists? What does Goldenberg call Israel's continued attacks on Syria, Yemen, Lebanon...are those also 'preventative'?
Goldenberg links to an article about 'Biden's approach' which states 'Since the March 2025 breakdown of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas...' ... another lie, since there was no 'breakdown'...Israel openly and unilaterally ended the ceasefire...not to mention Israel continued to killed Palestinians throughout the 'ceasefire'.
'...a humanitarian tragedy for Palestinians'
Is that what you call a genocide? What is happening is far worse than just some very sad thing... Israel has assassinated hundreds of journalists, hundreds of aid workers, hundreds of health workers... Israel has created more child amputees than anywhere in the world in Gaza and killed at least 18,000 children there...Israel has entirely destroyed society in Gaza.....all while Biden was President, which has continued under Trump.
Even Goldenberg's own J Street has finally admitted Israel is committing genocide. It's president, Jeremy Ben Ami, recently said 'I have, however, been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.'
This adds J Street to a long list of human rights orgs, world leaders and genocide scholars who have said the same thing, including groups and scholars in Israel...
It never ceases to amaze me how gullible, naive, and starry-eyed some otherwise intelligent and engaged people admit to being. Ilan Goldenberg has superb credentials, top-notch experience, and a good track record both inside and outside the previous administration.
Yet, like a teenage schoolgirl dreaming that the team quarterback will not only ask her out but prove not to be the insensitive boor that EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE WORLD has shown that he is, Mr. Goldenberg imagined that Trump would be able to outwit, or outmaneuver, or bully, or convince Bibi Netanyahu to change his tactics and bring the war to an end.
I know many intelligent people -- in my UU congregation, through my Ivy League alumni contacts, and just by preferring to spend my time with rational folks -- and not one of them has ever been fooled by Trump or his minions or his lies and enablers. The man is, first, probably the most uneducated, ignorant occupant of the Oval Office since Andrew Jackson. He is, second, showing signs of advancing senility that were obvious years ago. Third, he is terrified of strong men like Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin, because he has pretended to be one for 60 years after being brought up by a KKK-member bully of a father. But he himself is weak, scared, and fundamentally stupid.
So how could Mr. Goldenberg possible imagine, for even a minute, the scenario he outlines? My mind boggles.
I never cease to be astonished that anyone expects any good to come from the short-fingered vulgarian. He wants to "win" the Nobel Peace Prize the same way he acquired a Purple Heart - someone should just give it to him, because he is Himself. He will now do anything Bibi wants, because Bibi said he deserved that Prize, and probably tells him, on a regular basis, how smart and pretty he is.
Add all that to the fact that in his rat's nest of a brain, he really thinks Bibi will give him Gaza to build hotels and casinos, and make even more money. For that to happen, there must be genocide. Something that wouldn't bother the "consciences" of either the vulgarian, or Bibi.
Another euphemistic article about the never ending Palestine tragedy. It would appear that the problem was just Trump, not the generic support for the nazi like government of Netanyahu, the wanted war criminal, by most of American politicians, Democrats as much as the Republicans. This genocide has been directly enabled by the Biden administration that gave full political, military, economical and moral support to Israel for the total destruction of Gaza, with now openly admitted ethnic cleansing. Notice that the author manages not to use the word genocide - it must be hard as hell - in spite of now basically all top institutions and most scholars officially depicting the crime against humanity in Gaza as genocide. Listen to a top scholar argue why it is genocide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_R2zk3BSnA.
Gaza - and now slowly West Bank being sucked into iy - is a central humanitarian and political issue of our time, one that touches into the hear of our humanity, a desperate reminder that Never again should be Never again. We should all act to save Palestine, and act now - tomorrow may be too late. Just watch this top news channel, it will suffice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lPW0vyg_4U
I am glad someone else here calls out the weakness of this piece.
I just can't believe the narrative we see so often in The Contrarian, that Biden was trying so hard, and now Trump ruined it.
It certainly is worse now than ever..and this is a straight line trajectory from where Biden left off. None of this would be happening if Biden had the tiniest bit of courage and stopped supporting this carnage.
And as bad as it is now, the murder rate per month was significantly higher under Biden... in his 15 months of supporting Israel's war crimes, 46,000 Palestinian were killed in Gaza...since then, another 16,000 have been killed in the past 7 months...that is a rate of roughly 3000 killed / month under Biden, and 2300 killed / month under Trump (of course, all these figures are nearly certainly vast underestimates of the actual death toll).
Now that Trump is in power, all these middling 'moderates' who backed Israel with only tepid criticism while it leveled Gaza and killed 100+ people a day for 15 months are now against this 'humanitarian tragedy' they all helped create. It is truly sickening.
I'm sorry but hoping that drump will do one good thing in his life is just another performance of that famous Samuel Beckett play.... "Waiting for Godot".
Godot, the people waiting for him believe Godot will provide them with salvation.
Why anyone would think Trump would side with Gaza over Netanyahu is beyond me. Was no one paying attention to his first term? Netanyahu and Trump are two peas in a pod.
He used Gaza as a wedge to fracture the opposition. He doesn't give two fucks about Gaza or Palestinians. When he said he could end the war, what he really meant was, with Trump in office Israel would steamroll Gaza immediately.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
I don’t think that Ilan’s criticism of Israel was nearly harsh enough. In fact, and I realize that this is an extremely controversial position, I think that from a moral standpoint Israel has lost its right to exist as it is currently structured.
Because once a nation has engaged in a genocide, like the one Israel is currently committing against the Palestinians, it has crossed the point of no return with respect to its moral legitimacy.
Hence, the only acceptable solution at this point regarding Israel-Palestine is one unitary state where everyone has equal rights, there is total separation of church and state, and NATO provides the security. It should be adapted immediately. No excuses.
Israel seems to be in the same boat as America today — suddenly alerted to the danger they’re in and paddling furiously against the rushing currents of despots more interested in their own survival & pocketbooks than the people they ostensibly serve.
Biden’s Israeli loyalty was rooted in their past history & he found it difficult/ impossible to pivot when faced with new realities.
Trump’s rationale for backing Netanyahoo is *totally *self-serving.